PHOTO
27 July 2016
DOHA: Despite economic slowdown and dwindling energy prices, the combined revenues of Qatar's telecom sector crossed over the QR10bn-mark in 2015, registering a year-on-year growth of 6.44 percent compared to the previous year.
According to statistics provided by Qatar's Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA) in its Annual Report 2014-15, the combined revenues of Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar, the two telecoms services providers in the country, rose to QR10.06bn in 2015 from QR9.45bn in 2014. However, Ooredoo Qatar, the oldest telecom operator in the country, continued its market dominance accounting for 78.46 percent of the market's total revenues.
Although the revenues and profits of Qatar's telecommunications market has been witnessing a steady growth in tandem with the rise in the country's population over the last eight years, the revenues of Vodafone Qatar in 2015, for the first time since 2008, has declined to QR2.16bn from QR2.30bn in 2014, which was company's all time high.
The mobile phone subscriptions of, both Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar, have grown steadily over the last seven years. Vodafone Qatar's mobile subscription has grown to over 1.5 million in 2015 from 15,400 in 2009, while the number of Ooredoo Qatar's subscribers has increased to over 3 million in 2015 from about 285,000 in 2009.
The CRA has highlighted that it will continue to encourage fair and healthy competition and prohibit or minimise anti-competitive practices, and prevent misuse by any person or entity of its market-dominant position through robust regulatory and monitoring mechanisms, including the efficient management and allocation of scarce resource such as radio spectrum, numbering and domain names. Whereas the number of Ooredoo's fixed line phone subscriptions has surged to nearly 372,000 in 2015 from about 285,000 in 2009, up by nearly 87,000 over this long period.
The CRA in its report noted that under the recently developed competition policy framework, which aims at creating a stable environment, it is also focusing on regulation in wholesale markets to decrease retail regulation, which is expected to benefit the fixed sector in particular, and to reproduce some of the steady growth in the mobile sector.
Mohammed Ali Al Mannai, President of CRA, said: "The hallmarks of Qatar's regulatory framework will remain predictability and clarity, ensuring that Qatar continually enhances its rich landscape of services. In addition, ecosystem for smart cities and integrated e-health systems will require coordination and cooperation among all players."
DOHA: Despite economic slowdown and dwindling energy prices, the combined revenues of Qatar's telecom sector crossed over the QR10bn-mark in 2015, registering a year-on-year growth of 6.44 percent compared to the previous year.
According to statistics provided by Qatar's Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA) in its Annual Report 2014-15, the combined revenues of Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar, the two telecoms services providers in the country, rose to QR10.06bn in 2015 from QR9.45bn in 2014. However, Ooredoo Qatar, the oldest telecom operator in the country, continued its market dominance accounting for 78.46 percent of the market's total revenues.
Although the revenues and profits of Qatar's telecommunications market has been witnessing a steady growth in tandem with the rise in the country's population over the last eight years, the revenues of Vodafone Qatar in 2015, for the first time since 2008, has declined to QR2.16bn from QR2.30bn in 2014, which was company's all time high.
The mobile phone subscriptions of, both Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar, have grown steadily over the last seven years. Vodafone Qatar's mobile subscription has grown to over 1.5 million in 2015 from 15,400 in 2009, while the number of Ooredoo Qatar's subscribers has increased to over 3 million in 2015 from about 285,000 in 2009.
The CRA has highlighted that it will continue to encourage fair and healthy competition and prohibit or minimise anti-competitive practices, and prevent misuse by any person or entity of its market-dominant position through robust regulatory and monitoring mechanisms, including the efficient management and allocation of scarce resource such as radio spectrum, numbering and domain names. Whereas the number of Ooredoo's fixed line phone subscriptions has surged to nearly 372,000 in 2015 from about 285,000 in 2009, up by nearly 87,000 over this long period.
The CRA in its report noted that under the recently developed competition policy framework, which aims at creating a stable environment, it is also focusing on regulation in wholesale markets to decrease retail regulation, which is expected to benefit the fixed sector in particular, and to reproduce some of the steady growth in the mobile sector.
Mohammed Ali Al Mannai, President of CRA, said: "The hallmarks of Qatar's regulatory framework will remain predictability and clarity, ensuring that Qatar continually enhances its rich landscape of services. In addition, ecosystem for smart cities and integrated e-health systems will require coordination and cooperation among all players."
© The Peninsula 2016
